Long Island City, New York-based Tom Cat Bakery, a producer of fresh-baked and frozen bake-off products, has introduced artisanal Japanese Milk Bread products for both retail and foodservice sectors. Developed in collaboration with Japan’s Yamazaki Baking, these breads merge authentic Japanese baking traditions with Tom Cat’s American artisan standards.
Tom Cat Bakery embarked on developing high quality milk bread for the United States market some time ago. Working with experts at Yamazaki Baking, it acquired special equipment to follow the yudane method, in which flour and water are pre-cooked and added to the dough, creating the signature springy and fluffy texture expected in a true Shokupan. In keeping with Tom Cat’s tradition of using only the best, all-natural ingredients, their Japanese milk bread gets its rich, delicious flavor from generous amounts of heavy cream and honey.
In addition to the Shokupan sandwich loaf, Tom Cat has also created a seeded pullapart roll and a burger bun. The Japanese Milk Bread products are now available to foodservice customers through Dot Foods and to grocery retailers in new Tom Cat-branded retail packaging.
In business for more than 35 years, Tom Cat breads are baked to order and delivered daily in the New York Metropolitan area. Its products are found on the tables at New York’s Four-Star restaurants, landmark hotels and leading sandwich chains. In an effort to better meet the demand of chefs and retailers across the country, the company is ramping up distribution of its fully baked frozen artisan breads.
